Meizer's Diet Journal

[Meizer]

Wow, all that work for one pound. It's so worth it!! I am wearing my beautiful new spring dress purchased for this new body of mine because it's suppose to be very nice out and I wanted to take an optimistic approach to today. It's been a trying couple of days for me dealing with car warranties and the dealership's lack of honoring the warranty. It brought me to tears I was so upset. I said some nasty things to the service department I wish I hadn't and now I feel this cloud of bad karma hanging over me...

To cleanse my karma, I am a volunteer fashion model for the Multiple Sclerosis Society's Charity Fashion Show Luncheon this weekend. My co-worker organized the event and wrangled some of us to be the models. Imagine me, at 5' 3", a model! I laugh everytime I think of it! Tonight I have to go and pick out 2 outfits from the fashion retailer who sponsored the event. Lucky for me that extra pound fell off and the clothes will look that much better! I refuse to model any type of lingerie or bathing suits...I'm a business suit, or dress, or casual weekend wear type-gal only! It makes me feel good to be volunteering for such a fine event. Like I said...just in time to cleanse my kharma. Breathe deep...concentrate...one foot in front of the other....smile...don't fall off the runway...smile...shake what your mama gave you...breathe!! I even get to have my make-up professionally applied, which is something new for me. Maybe the artist will transform me completely because other than the brand (from buying the cheap stuff as a teenager to the more expensive cosmetics today), I have not changed the way I apply my makeup since I started wearing makeup. I`m just hoping they`re not going to make us up like top runway models with the freaked out eye makeup and stuff... I just want to be normal please and thank-you!

Well, I must depart and get to work. Just wanted to comment about the pound I dropped and the karma thing. Looking forward to the weekend!

Meizer

[snoopygirl7]

i like your journal! i'm also following the menus in the book. keep it up!

[Meizer]

Here I am again...a year and a half later, back for round 2. I hate to say what has happened to me over the last 6-8 months but I'm sure you can all guess - yes, it was weight gain. I was doing so good...I was eating right, staying fit, and then all of a sudden, I wasn't. All of a sudden I had to wear my 'fat' jeans...the jeans I bought before I started the SBD the first time. AAACCCKKK!! So, I am back up to 139 pounds (not as bad as the 143 I was before but close enough..). I started the SBD 3 days ago. Today is day 4. I am sticking to the book menus and recipes and I had my first workout yesterday. I started out pretty slow on the eliptical but got right back into it after several minutes and kept the rate up for the remainer of the exercise. 25 minutes, 5kms and 200 calories done. I just didn't have the energy for a little Turbo Jam workout on the abs or even a yoga cool down. Speaking of calories, how do we know that the eliptical is right in estimating that I've just burned 200 calories? Does everyone burn calories the same way? It must be a 'math' thing...I may have to 'google' this. Very interesting.

I have nothing but good things to say about the SBD. It has taught me well but when I refuse to practice what I've been taught and ignore what I know is right, I end up with unwanted weight added to this small frame of mine (I"m 5'3"). I'm that apple shape. I'm all gut really. I have a few empire waist style shirts in my closet that I can't wear right now because if I let it all hang out, it looks like I'm pregnant. Seriously, like 9 months pregnant! But even when I was at full term (24 years ago!) I only weighed 132 lbs! Mind you I started out at 105 lbs! After 2 kids I was 115 lbs for like, ever...Then I hit age 40 and well, it's been a uphill battle ever since. My metabolism when from super super fast to super super slow. I guess it's an age thing. No use complaining...I'm not getting any younger, right?! So, it's back to the beach. Because, to be truthful, I'm headed for the real beach at the end of February. My husband and I are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary in the Caribbean and have planned a 2 week vacation. So, I want to look good, well, half decent at least, in a bikini...not pregnant!

Eggs for breakfast, salad for lunch, sensible grilled meats and veggies for dinner. A few small snacks in between like cheese sticks and ham roll ups and a portion controlled dessert. I've found a much better tasting, much better textured low fat ricotta cheese so the desserts are actually edible (especially the mocha ricotta creme). I still don't do jello...or celery...so some minor substitutions are required. ..and I think Laughing Cow has improved the taste of their light cheese wedges. They taste really good to me now but I prefer it spread on a red or green pepper strip because, like I said, I don't do celery.

Where am I? 139 lbs. Where do I want to be? 125 lbs. Do I think I can do it before I leave on vacation? FAT CHANCE! But it'll be worth every effort to get as close to my goal as possible! Saddle up and hang on for the ride! Giddy-up let's go!

Meizer

[Meizer]

Horray! Success at the scales! I can certainly feel it in my pants this morning...not so tight around the waist. I'm back to eating the right foods (on day 7 of Phase 1) and I even managed to go to the grocery store and pick up a few things (lf milk, ricotta, coffee) WITHOUT picking up my all-time favorite absolutely terrible for me weekend snack. It took everything I had in me not to wheel the cart down the junk food aisle but I did it! Then, it took everything I had not to pull into the one of two convenience stores I have to drive by on my way home but I did it! I was exhausted by the time I got home! But you know, I did my work out anyway. Dinner was on the table by 7:30 p.m.! But it's ME FIRST...no matter what...it's me first. I have to do what I have to do before I have to do things for others and that means, WORK OUT AFTER WORK, or in the case on Friday night, after errands, no matter how late it is. In addition, that perseverance has paid off in pounds. 135 according the scale this morning and that was AFTER I ate breakfast! Whoo Hoo!! Ebay sent me a notice this morning...my bikini was shipped today! Stickin' to it since last Tuesday...

Meizer

sw: 139
cw: 135
gw: 125

[Meizer]

Happy birthday to me...yea me! As a gift, I'm getting the body I want by sticking to this diet. So, while I am unable to enjoy a little birthday cake, I may just add more than the recommended 5 mini chocolate chips to my mocha ricotta creme dessert tonight! My hubby asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I told him "I want you to cook for me." I'll sit in the lounge chair and bark out orders while he chops and dices and marinates and stir frys. This should be thoroughly entertaining! I picked an easy dinner - chicken stir fry, a salad, some spaghetti squash and voila! Dinner is served. It'll take everything in me not to get up and do it for him buy I promised myself that I'll stay firmly planted in my chair until he rings the dinner bell!

Yesterday's menu:

2 veg quiche cups w/spinach, mushroom, onion, red pepper, lf cheddar cheese - delicious!
1 glass tomato juice
coffee w/lf milk and splenda

1 wedge lcl cheese w/2 red pepper strips

salad w/chicken breast, romaine, cuke, radish, mushroom, tomato, feta, cheddar, red onion
lf cesear dressing

1 hard boiled egg

Marinated sirloin steak, grilled on the Q
Spaghetti squash w/chopped cherry tomatoes, onion, garlic, feta and fresh basil
Surprise South Beach Mashed

15 cashews
coffee w/lf milk and splenda

Geeze, I just noticed the amount of 'tomato' in yesterday's menu. Does that seem excessive? I admit to drinking v8 or tomato every morning, and to having diced tomatoes on my lunch salad and dinner salad every day. Interesting that you notice a trend when you write it all down.... Journals are good...! For exercise I did 25 minutes on the elliptical but there is something wrong with the AV wires that run the DVD and Satellite feed so I was unable to do yoga or Ab work. I 'winged it' and did 10 minutes of my own poses and a few crunches for good measure. For this go round on the SBD the scale is in the basement as I only want to weight myself every 5 days or so. I was way too obsessed with numbers last time (sometimes I weighed myself 3 times a day!) so out of sight out of mind, right?!

Birthday Salad...hmmm, that's new! But it's the gift that comes later...down the road...from eating all those 'birthday salads' that will be the best gift of all! A thinner, healthier me.

Oh, how old am I? In the infamous words of Bryan Adams, I'll be "18 'til I die!" or in my own words...see my signature line below.

Meizer

[Meizer]

Day 9.. I really wanted to hop on the scale this morning but I held back. I'll wait until next monday... The pants feel good... I feel good... That is all that really matters to me.

So I must admit, I did have cake on my birthday. I had some grocery shopping to do last night and as I walked through the bakery department, I noticed a small tiramisu nicely packaged with all the nutritional information included... If the mocha ricotta creme that I was going to eat is approximately 270 calories plus what I was going to do which was add more chocolate chips for a treat, and the tiramisu is ranked at 320, AND the fact that I was planning to share the tiramisu with my husband, our dessert would rank at 160 calories each, a lower calorie count than the ricotta dessert, but much less protein in it (15g I think in the ricotta vs. 4 in the tiramisu). I ate half of my half and saved the other half for later....later came about a half hour later...! But it was my birthday! I deserved a treat.

While I didn't get my chicken dinner (breasts were supposed to be marinated...OVERNIGHT...oops....so we threw them in the marinade and we'll eat them for dinner tonight. The hubby still cooked for me though and then cleaned for me and then gave me a birthday gift: All day spa treatment with body wrap, manicure, pedicure, massage therapy, etc... Just in time for our vacation, my skin will look and feel great and the feet and hands will be polished and soft! I've only ever had a manicure a couple, few times so the rest will really be a treat!

Yesterday's menu:

scrambled eggs w/mushrooms, green peppers, red onion, lf cheddar
tomato juice
coffee w/lf milk and splenda

no snack

salad w/hard boiled egg, mushrooms, red onion, cuke, tomato, green pepper, feta, lf cesar dressing

cottage cheese w/red pepper

Omelette w/mushrooms green & red peppers, red onion, lf mozza and cheddar
Spinach stuffed mushrooms with lf cheddar

25 minute elliptical workout, 3 minutes of haphazard yoga attempts, gave up...! I've got to get the satellite cables working again...ugh.

Geeze, before it was a tomato overdose, yesterday it was a mushroom overdose! But they say that the longer mushrooms are exposed to sunlight, the more vitamin D they absorb so I'm getting my dose of D. With these Canadian Winters, one rarely ventures into the frigid temperatures for longer than it takes to run from the house to the car...from the car to the office...and back again! And the times I do spend outdoors (snowmobiling for example) I'm covered in winter gear from head to toe and all that is exposed is my eyes! Mushrooms are gooooood.

Keep on keeping on....

Meizer

[Meizer]

What a busy busy time I've had...Work busy, home busy, everything busy! My daughter has returned home, home to her hometown and home to my home. She and her husband moved in with us and that involved a lot of lifting boxes, carrying boxes, drive drive drive, and then lifting and carrying boxes again. While I was unable to do any elliptical/yoga type exercise over the last 3 days, I believe I got my fair share of exercise with the lifting, carrying, up and down the stairs, up and down the moving truck ramp type of activities! And I remained on the SBD the entire time .. er.. except for the mini lemon meringue tart I ate for dessert last night. Before I left home, I packed a cooler full of SBD necessities: cheese sticks, ham roll ups, cilantro mayo, 2 nice salads, nuts AND, I put my steak in a ziploc, added the marinade and put it on ice for the 5 hour drive to my daughter's former city. I got there just in time for supper and while they dined on Pizza (which literally had grease dripping off of it) I George Forman'd my steak and enjoyed my salad. For breakfast the next morning they took us out to the Curling Club and I ordered a cheese, green and red pepper and mushroom omelette, no toast. I did not realize it came with hashbrowns but I didn't eat any of them. I am so proud! I did drink a lot of coffee, but I brought my own Splenda packets and used them always.

Today, because I was so busy for the last few days, I had nothing prepped for lunch so the Hubby and I went out to Wendy's. I've read (either on this site or other locales) that the Chilli is a good choice so we each had a chilli and a side salad. After I ordered the chilli's and salads, the clerk says "Would you like something to drink?" I hum and haw, and she says "How about a glass of water?" "Yes please! That would be great," I say. Hmmm...did she know? Did the chilli and salad tip her off I'm on a 'diet'? Interesting...and the water was free too.

So tonight, even though I'll be home later than usual (must pick up the daughter from her new job as her new car is not ready for pick up until tomorrow), I will make sure I take the time to work out, I will make sure I prep my jellos and my mini quiches and my cheese sticks and roll ups. I'll make a fresh batch of cilantro mayo, and I will spend time chopping enough veggies for the next couple of days' worth of salads. I will step on the scales tomorrow morning and see what it says. I feel good. The pants feel good. My arms ache from all the lifting and carrying but all in all, even with the busy busy busy of the last several days, I am so happy I stuck with it. I think I will be pleasantly surprised at the scales.

Stickin' to it since oh, about 12 days ago??!!

Meizer

[Meizer]

Wow, me the 'serial weigher' and I forgot to hop on the scales this morning. I guess it'll have to wait until tomorrow morning...hopefully I forget to do it then too!

I did most of what I had to do yesterday.. came home, worked out, cleaned and chopped all the veggies for lunch salads, boiled eggs, made jellos. I did not make quiches or roll ups as I had no mushroom left for the quiche nor any leaf lettuce for the roll ups. I'll shop today after work and finish all the prep tonight. I have to say that even with all this prep work done for lunch, it still takes me nearly 1/2 an hour to make up 2 SBD Phase 1 lunches for me and the hubby. Is it because I'm just moving at turtle speed at 6:15 a.m.? This new way of eating is a lot of work, planning meals, prepping, putting it all together. Mind you, for the last months I've forgotten what it's like to make a lunch so we could eat healthy instead of heading to the nearest fast food joint for an (unhealthy) bite to eat. I think the work is worth it.

It's time to pump up the workout though. I barely broke a sweat yesterday after 20 minutes, 200 calories and 5km in on the elliptical. I'll be setting it to Level 2 tonight as a result and trying that. Makes me happy I have to work harder to break a sweat! Increasing the cardio levels! Sweet! The AV wires and such are all fixed as of last night so now the DVD can once again play some Turbo Jam workout vid's for me. I usually let it run with the 'pump up the music' option selected while I'm on the elliptical and then start it over for when I start the workout. That way I have tunes while I'm on the machine and in motion.

My menu for the last 13 days has looked like this: Breakfast is always a glass of water first thing and then eggs with whatever veg is handy (usually peppers and mushrooms), sometimes a slice of back bacon (and sometimes the dog gets it instead) and a glass of V8 low sodium. A cup of regular coffee with lf millk and splenda...and one to go for the ride to work (it's a 35 minute commute). Snacks are 1/2 cup cottage cheese with chopped red pepper and either a cheese stick, a ham roll up or a wedge of lite laughing cow. Lunch is always a salad loaded with chopped cucumber, tomatoe, mushroom, red onion, radish, green & red pepper, lf cheddar cheese, some feta and a protien - either egg, chicken or tuna. Dinner is always chicken breast, fish or sirloin steak, a salad, and two other veg dishes. Dinner for tonight will be parmesean encrusted sole with roasted eggplant, side salad and steamed broccoli. Late night snack is usually a handful of roasted unsalted nuts, either cashews or pistachios.

Water water and more water throughout the day (always a bottle on my desk in front of me), during my workout, at the table for lunch and dinner and during 'relax mode' when I've done all that needed to be done for the day and can finally sit and do nothing but watch the boob-tube for a while before going to bed.

Stickin' to it since January 14th....

Meizer

[Meizer]

So I didn't forget..I hopped on the scale this morning... 1 more pound down. Good Stuff!

I did a lot of running around last night...can you feel an excuse coming on?...and didn't have time to get my work out in...Yup, there it is! I went shopping after work, met the hubby and daughter for dinner in town, came home and put away the groceries, went to the border to get gas (30 cents cheaper than in my town), chopped, washed and bagged the lettuce, mushrooms, etc. and next thing I knew, it was 10:30 in the evening! I was done, kaput, finito. But, while I was shopping I did THINK about exercising...does that count? I actually bought a new JIllian Michaels (the biggest loser trainer) Yoga DVD along with a new workout outfit...It was on sale for 40% off THATS why I bought it - the outfit I mean! I really don't give a rat's a$$ what I look like when I work out but my cut off shorts and ratty t-shirt have seen better days. It was time.

For dinner I had a NY striploin, med-rare, with a side of steamed veg and a glass of water. The meal did come with a small slice of garlic toast of which I ate 1/3 of it and gave the rest away. I had a handful of roasted unsalted cashews for a late night snack.

It was a very busy day but all in all, the scale reads 1 pound less than it did yesterday so I"m pleased! No errands planned for after work today...I'm excited to get into the new Yoga DVD .. and into that hot little workout outfit too!

Stickin' to it...

Meizer

[lawn_gnome78]

Yay for stickin' to it!

Keep it up!

[crawfish]

We have similar goals, I'm starting at 146 trying to get to 128 or so (I'm 5'4.5") About five years ago i started at 138 and got down to 128 on SBD, but in the past 2 years work, some injuries, etc. saw my weight creeping back up. I can't believe I have almost 20 lbs. to lose this time instead of 10!!! Ugh.

Twice i've gone up in pants' sizes, and it sucks!!!

I"ll have to go back and read more of your journal.

Keep at it!!

best,
Crawfish

[Meizer]

Thanks for the encouragement lawn_gnome and Crawfish! I really do appreciate it.

So the last few times I've been on the elliptical, by the 15 minute mark my left foot is actually going numb. I have these really crappy runners that don't fit me at all and I believe that this rotten footwear is the reason behind the numbness. Geeze, at least I THINK its the footwear causing the problem...I hope it's not something serious! To (hopefully) remedy the numbness, I went shopping this morning and bought a nice pair of Dr.Scholls runners that are made of mesh for breathability, have gel insoles for low impact, and they have really good arch support - three important things my old runners sadly lacked. The new runners were comfortable from the moment I tried them on. I also bought a set of 2 lb hand weights and a resistance band. The Turbo Jam Ab workout routines use the band and it looks a lot, well, I was going to say easier but how about more convenient, or better yet, less awkward than doing the routine without the band. As for the 2 lb weights - I hang on to those while I'm on the elliptical, pumping and lifting my arms while I ride, or stride, or spin, or whatever it is one does while they are in motion on an elliptical! I had some 3 lb weights I tried hanging on to in the beginning but they were just too much and I gave up after 5 minutes! (...add some V8 juice, garlic powder, 28 duo-tangs, and mailling labels to the cart and 88 dollars later, I left Walmart...!)

I think the key to my workout schedule is the fact that I brought all of my equipment upstairs (my son moved out and I turned his bedroom into my exercise room). Last round on the SBD, I had everything downstairs...well...out of sight out of mind right? Since I've had it upstairs it's right in my face, you know? I walk by it on my way to the washroom, the bedroom, the linen closet...it calls out to me... "You know you have to!" "You know you WANT to!" "Ebay mailed your bikini!! ;)" Yup, gets me everytime! It's just a simple room, an eliptical, an area rug with 2 yoga mats, a stability ball, a jump rope, and a set of small weights, 3, 5 and 10 lbs. I had a huge full length mirror in there so I could check my yoga poses but the kids knocked it over during Christmas (when the room was turned back into a bedroom temporarily) and the mirror smashed into a thousand pieces. I have a TV and a DVD player in there too for the exercise and yoga videos. I have a great view out the window and nobody but me sees me work out! My hubby came in last night during the last 5 minutes of elliptical training and says "Wow! You really move on that thing!" I bumped it up to level 2 and I keep a steady pace of 16.9-17 kph going 5 km's in 20 minutes. I have no idea if that's good or not. I'll have to google it later. Hub can barely last 5 minutes on level 1 at 4 kph! He needs cardio work... We've got his cholesterol down, his high blood pressure down, now time to work on upping the cardio activity....but not between 5 and 6 p.m. because that's MY workout time!

Stickin' to it!!

Meizer

[Meizer]

I'm seriously craving Peanut Butter. I believe I have a peanut butter addiction. I can just open a jar and eat it by the spoonful. Mostly I eat 1 tablespoon in the evening but that's a silverware type tablespoon (not a measuring type tablespoon) heaped to over flowing with peanut butter. I haven't had peanut butter in over month. I don't want to buy it for fear I'll start eating it by the tablespoon again! It takes all of my energy to walk on by that peanut butter aisle in the grocery store...Yesterday at Walmart, while I was in the V8 juice section, I was also in the peanut butter section.. I held a jar in my hands... rolled it over... I compared all the labels.. smooth vs extra smooth vs 25% less fat vs natural peanut butter. I put all the jars back and wheeled the cart out of the aisle. I DID IT! I DIDN'T BUY IT! But ....I really really want the peanut butter.

Last round on the SBD, my dessert was a skinny cow fudge bar (50 calories), a MEASURED tablespoon of natural peanut butter and a sprinkle of splenda. Sure, tasty, but no protien like the ricotta cheese desserts. Too bad... I am driving myself crazy over peanut butter. I'll buy the natural pb (less chance of eating that stuff by the spoonful) and the skinny cows and have a little piece of heaven each evening with the marvelous taste of PB.

I'll be eating rosemary salmon, salad and south beached mashed for dinner tonight but having that skinny cow pb and splenda for dessert.

I read someones journal here that said "Avert eyes..food porn here..." I feel that way about this post...I shoulda warned ya. SORRY... but had to vent.

I guess I'm "kinda" stickin' to it...for the most part!

Meizer

[Meizer]

Hmm...another week of SBD and no loss to report. Still at 134 lbs. I dont' get it. All that busting my butt with exercise, all that healthy eating, portion control and everything and what do I have to show for it this week - absolutely nothing. I am so discouraged. I guess I have to change things up to see some results. I will have to exercise for 1 hour instead of just 30 minutes, I'll have to eat even smaller portions, I have to just stay the course and hope for the best.

Wholly crap, Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown DVD is unreal! No gentle, stress-relieving, calming poses with this DVD I tell ya! FEEL THE BURN! oh, I felt the burn! WORK THE ENTIRE BODY! oh, I worked it alright! I'm stiff today... I can feel it in the back of my arms. YEH! No pain no gain right?

Somewhat unhappy with the results but still stickin' to it...

Meizer

[Meizer]

I read that Chefk bought a 10 year old used elliptical for $725? Yikes! makes me rethink my new purchase a couple years ago of a brand new elliptical for $300...I must've bought a cheap one or Chefk got ripped off! one of the two! I have 5 programs, pluse reader, 10 levels, arms and legs in motion.. I dunno.. works for me. But, have you heard that old saying? (or maybe it's just my brother in law who says it..!) "Buy it cheap..buy it twice." So we'll see how long my 'cheap' one lasts!

I've hit a plateau. 134 for the last what, 2 weeks now? ...nothing gained nothing lost. No matter the workout..no matter the portion control, the carb control, the sugar control...134..ugh. I have to up the workout...I know I said I was going to do that last time I signed on but I didn't. I thought I could get away with it. I guess I can't. Note to self: You have to do it. There is no other way...calories in .. calories out. The workout will ensure that there is an increase in the calories out.

What really scares me is next week. There is this huge week long conference I'm attending that will tempt me with cookies and pastries at all the sessions and deep fried finger foods at the receptions. There will be evening sessions which means I won't be home until 10 or so at night. I'll have to keep a pocketful of nuts and munch on those throughout the day so as to not cave in and succumb to the junk. I'll keep my hands full of pens and notebooks...no ROOM for food in the hands! I have to put my blinders on and walk right on by the snack stations... keep on walkin! go for a walk around the block instead of networking in the halls over cookie trays and pasteries because by the time I get home, it'll be bed time and no working out before bed. There are some great strategies to get me through the week, eh?!

Actually, the hands full of pens and notebooks saves me from having to 'shake hands' with the other conference attendees. I've become such a germophobe in the last couple of years it's unreal. For the new year I said I was going to start 'fist bumping' people instead of shaking their hands and you know, last week I followed through for the first time. The hotel concierge held out his hand to me and I held out a fist and he fist bumped me! There was a bit of an awkward pause while he stared at my fist but I didn't move my fist so he clenched his hand and voila! he fist bumped me! No germs exchanged! I'd like the whole world to stop shaking hands and do the fist bump or some other non-germy way of greeting each other. Hands are like the dirtiest thing out there. How about the Asian bow? And no European kisses on the cheeks please! Yeesh! Some day when I have time I'll tell you what tramaic event occured to me that made me become such a germophobe...it has to do with an escalator's handrail, someone else's snot, and my hand... 'nuff said!

Ok, on the agenda...work out increases starting tonight. 30 minutes elliptical, level 3 - Turbo Jam Ab workout, 15 minutes - Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown, 15 minutes (which is all I can take of her routine!) DONE! PROMISE! We'll see what the next few days brings in the way of numbers.

Trying really hard to stick to it....

Meizer